From: Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC <pmarc2008@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Oct 11, 2010 at 6:10 PM
Subject: [PMARC] Dalits Media Watch - News Updates 11.10.10
To: Dalits Media Watch <PMARC@dgroups.org>
Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 11.10.10
Damaged bust of Ambedkar sparks tension in village - The Times Of India
'Police torture to withdraw candidature' – DHRM complaint to Election Commission - Two circle.Net
"Bhoodan Yagna Board Corrupt" - Fully Hyd
Chengara agitators readying for another stir - Express Buzz
Child cine artists join Orissa rights campaign - Sify News
http://sify.com/news/child-cine-artists-join-orissa-rights-campaign-news-national-kkku4dcfhad.html
The Times Of India
Damaged bust of Ambedkar sparks tension in village
TNN, Oct 10, 2010, 09.31pm IST
VARANASI: Tension gripped Amini village under Mirzamurad police station when a bust of Dr BR Ambedkar was found broken on Sunday morning.
According to reports, a bust of Ambedkar was installed at an isolated place on the outskirts of Amini village. When the villagers passed through the area where the bust was installed in the morning, they found that someone had broken it. The news spread like wildfire and a huge gathering of villagers took place there.
On receiving information, heavy police force was sent to the village. The police immediately arranged for a new bust to replace the damaged one. However, the villagers were rigid on their demand for the arrest of the person who had damaged the bust. The situation normalised after police assured them that they would lodge an FIR.
SP (rural) Ajay Kumar said as a majority of the villagers were scheduled caste, it seemed that the act of damaging the bust was not aimed at any political advantage during the panchayat election. He said the involvement of some mischievous element in this incident was suspected and he (they) would be arrested very soon.
Two circle.Net
'Police torture to withdraw candidature'
– DHRM complaint to Election Commission
Submitted by admin3 on 11 October 2010 - 12:52pm
By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent,
Thiruvananthapuram: The Dalit Human Rights Movement complained to the Kerala Election Commission accusing that the police tortured its members to withdraw their candidature in the coming local body elections in Kerala. Six DHRM candidates contesting in the local body elections in Idukki district filed the complaint.
The complaint reportedly accuses that the SI of Nedungandam in Idukki threatened six DHRM candidates to withdraw their candidature taking them into custody. The candidates, including an Adivasi woman contesting from a Scheduled Tribe reservation seat, were taken into custody at noon time on October 6 and were released only at night. The SI reportedly threatened to trap them in any case if they did not withdraw their candidature. The complaint reportedly alleges that the candidates were tortured physically and mentally in the police station for hours when they refused to sign the papers for the withdrawal of candidature.
Complaint has been filed with the State and Central Scheduled Castes-Scheduled Tribes Commission also, seeking measures as per the laws against the torture of the Scheduled Castes. The candidates who filed the complaint are KK Rama (Nedungandam Panchayat – 15th ward), Kunhamma (Nedungandam Panchayat 9th ward), Girija Kulumpan (Kanhikkuzhi Panchayat – 16th ward), Prasad Raghavan (Wathikkudi Panchayat – 16th ward), Johnson Kutappan (Elappara Panchayat – 7th ward) and M Raju (Kamakshi Panchayat – 5th ward).
The DHRM is an independent Dalit organisation based in south Kerala. The organisation came into news headlines when the police charged it with the murder of a trader in Varkkala in Thiruvananthapuram and its members were tortured and widely arrested. The DHRM came up as a social organisation focusing on creating awareness among the Dalit community and to relieve them of the menaces of alcoholism and drug addiction. It fielded its own candidate in the last Parliament elections in the Attingal constituency bagging more than 5000 votes. The organisation is fielding candidates in around 400 panchayats in the eight southern districts from Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur.
Fully Hyd
"Bhoodan Yagna Board Corrupt"
Opposition leaders charge Bhoodan Yagna Board and revenue
minister Dharmana over dubious land allottments.
8th Oct, 2010: Alleging discrepancies in the allotment of land meant for distribution to the landless, opposition leaders on Friday met revenue minister Dharmana Prasada Rao and demanded a probe into the usurping of thousands of acres of prime land in Rangareddy district.
Talking to media persons after meeting the revenue minister, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Joolakanti Venkat Reddy, Telugu Desam Party leader Manchireddy Kishan Reddy and Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader Eetala Rajender alleged that the 2 lakh acres of prime property in Rangareddy district, meant to be distributed to the landless from SC, ST and BC, has been allotted to realtors and capitalists in violation of guidelines.
According to the opposition leaders, as much as 2 lakh acres of land in the State was under the control of autonomous Bhoodan Yagna Board, which was supposed to distribute the land to the landless.
The opposition leaders told media persons that they had urged the revenue minister Dharmana Prasada Rao to spell out the extent of the land, which was allotted to corporate bodies, and also to cancel those allotments.
The leaders revealed that in Rangareddy district alone, over 21,500 acres were taken over by Bhoodana Yagna Board in 2002, as per the board's statement.
The board claims to have distributed over 1 lakh acres to 42,199 people. The opposition leaders alleged that that there were discrepancies in the details provided by the Bhoodan Yagna Board.
The opposition leaders charged that the particulars of land distributed to the landless and the balance land allegedly kept under the control of the Board did not match and that indicated that there was something amiss in the allotments.
Speaking to the press separately, the opposition leaders claimed that the details the Bhoodan Board furnished in respect of the lands meant for distribution were not clear and stated that they had urged the government to scrap the board. They revealed that they had demanded the revenue department take control of the lands in question.
The leaders also called for spot verification of the details to ascertain the factual position and appoint an IAS officer to protect the interests of the people.
The revenue minister is understood to have assured the opposition leaders that not an inch of land 'will go' and that he will give all the details after verification within 6 months.
Express Buzz
Chengara agitators readying for another stir
First Published : 10 Oct 2010 03:13:02 AM IST
Last Updated : 10 Oct 2010 11:01:15 AM IST
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Another round of agitation for land seems to be brewing as the Chengara agitators feel that they have been betrayed by the Government by allotting them uncultivable, uninhabitable land.
"When the government offered us land in nine districts, we had set up a seven-member committee to visit these places to see the conditions of the land. Only in three districts- Malappuram, Ernakulam and Kollam - were the land found habitable. We found the rest of the land suggested totally uninhabitable," Laha Gopalan, leader of the Chengara agitators, told `Express'.
'Express' had visited the land awarded to the agitators in Marayoor and Attappadi and reported the extremely difficult conditions the agitators are facing in these areas to start a new life. "Only a small number of the 1495 families which participated in the Chengara agitation had accepted the Government's offer. The rest of the families did not turn up for the title deed distribution function held on August 3. Even those who turned up had acted under pressure from CPM workers," Laha Gopalan alleged. He said that many of the families who had found it difficult to live in the newly-allotted land, have already returned the 'promised land' offered by the Government.
The agitators say that there are presently 1600 families in Chengara and have 800 acres of land under their control. "We will distribute this land among the families as 50 cent plots and will start building the houses and begin farming", says Laha Gopalan.
According to UDF leaders, the reason behind the agitators' rising ire is the failure of the government to adopt a humane approach to the issue. "The government was more focused on derailing Chengara agitation than finding a solution to the landless people. The government's move was nothing but a betrayal and a cruel joke on the landless poor", senior Congress leader Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan MLA said.
"The mere distribution of title deeds is not sufficient. The government should have also supported the Chengara agitators financially till they were able to gain some measure of self-reliance. What would the poor do if you just award them title deeds? " asks Anto Antony, MP.
Dalit leader Geethanandan feels that while there was just a half-hearted attempt on the part of the government to end the agitation, there was also a serious lapse on the part of the agitators in sticking to a single demand. "Either they should have accepted the government's offer fully or should have rejected it outright", Geethanandan said.
SC/ST Welfare Minister A K Balan said that the government was willing to look into the complaints about the allotted land.
"The government is committed to allot the best land available to the landless poor. But the leadership of the agitators was not keen on resolving the problem. The government is ready to seriously consider the complaints, if any, about the land provided," Balan told 'Express'.
Sify News
Child cine artists join Orissa rights campaign
http://sify.com/news/child-cine-artists-join-orissa-rights-campaign-news-national-kkku4dcfhad.html
Bhubaneswar, Oct 10 (IANS) Two well-known Oriya child film artists Sunday joined hands with an NGO in Orissa to fight for the rights of the children in the state, an official said here.
Akanksha Kabi (12) and Nikita Mishra (11) who played roles in nearly a dozen of Oriya movies and serials were declared as goodwill ambassadors by the People's Cultural Centre (PECUC) in a special function organised to launch for campaign to protect the rights of the children.
'They agreed to play a leading role to draw the minds of duty bearers for the cause of the children in our state,' PECUC's secretary Ranjan Mohanty told IANS.
Akankshya, a class seven student, is a recipient of the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement in 2009. She is also a national level chess player. Nikita Mishra reads in class six.
'We will try to do our best to bring the deprived children to mainstream,' the child artists said at the function.
Government figures say 1.87 lakh children never go to school in Orissa although the real number could be much higher. Majority of them are dalits and tribals, Mohanty said.
--
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
..................................................................
Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.
Visit web site | Reply to sender | Click here to unsubscribe
The email is intended only for the recipients. The owners of the Dgroups cannot be held responsible for the contents of the email message.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment